: I have had a strong interest in science for a long time and the potential to contribute to the understanding of science is exciting to me. I would like to apply scientific contributions to medicine in the future, and a strong background in research will enable me to accomplish this. It is for this reason that I am pursuing a combined MD/PhD) degree. A graduate education with extensive research and courses leading to a PhD will allow me to gain experience in formulating hypotheses and testing them critically. This training will also create opportunities to present materials to others in the form of publications and presentations, which are necessary skills to learn for a scientific profession. In a medical setting, these scientific principles will enable me to think about the underlying mechanism of a disease when treating a patient. A medical education will help me to apply my research to medical problems by allowing me to understand the pertinent problems in medicine, and giving me a comprehensive knowledge of the human body and the interrelationship of the organ systems and physiology of the body.